10/24/2012

Vegan MoFo Day 24: A cooking tragedy

Subtitle: Even vegan food can go bad.

Last night I prepared to make Pasta Italiano, once again from Chloe's Kitchen. In my usual way I was making some substituions. I didn't have fresh asparagus, btu I had frozen. I didn't have fusilli, btu I had penne. I didn't have any unflavored nut milk on hand, only vanilla rice milk. Yes, this substitution was the most concerning. But i decided to carry on anyway.

And lastly, I didn't have cherry tomatoes, but I did have some organic heirloom tomatoes on hand, and decided to chop one up. The very last step of the recipe is throwing in those tomatoes, stirring everything up, seasoning to taste and presto! Pasta Italiano.

As soon as the tomatoes hit the host pasta and sauce, something smelled off. I don't have a great sense fo smell, because I'm terminally congested from my allergies, but the steam rising raised a warning flag. But I went ahead and tasted the pasta, one last final testing taste. And I knew it was bad. That tomato was moldy, even though I hadn't spotted any mold on it when I chopped it up.

I picked up the other tomato still sitting in it's little tray from the store on the counter, and turned it over, and that one had visible mold.

Well. There was no saving it. That entire pot of pasta. There was nothing for it but to toss one pound of penne, 2 cans of cannellini beans, on bag of frozen asparagus spears and assorted other spices, seasonings, oils and milks, down the disposal, bit by bit.

People think of animal products as being the ones that "spoil", and of course they do. But a moldy tomato can do in a dish, so pay attention to your fruits and veggies too. Turn 'em around and over. Don't waste the time and food I did last night with my vegan cooking tragedy :(